For the past two years, Randy Young has been so very close to winning The Post-Standard Senior Amateur. But each time he wound up a shot shy of the victor.

On Tuesday, Young put himself back in position to capture his first title in the event for amateurs ages 55-over by posting a 1-over-par 72 at Drumlins East. The score deadlocked him with fellow Bellevue Country Club member Bill McIntyre as the event heads to the final round Wednesday at Highland Park Golf Club in Auburn.

The two players stand two shots ahead of five players tied at 74 and 10 more who are within four strokes of the frontrunners. Among those at 76 are defending champion Phil Tripoli and former winners Frank Plata and Mike Garofalo.

“I’d really like to win this tournament,” said Young, a 64-year-old Merrill Lynch retiree from DeWitt who came into the event on the heels of winning the Bellevue Senior Championship over the weekend. “I’ve been within one shot the past two years and have been in the hunt the last four or five years.”

While happy that he was in the lead after one round, he said he was disappointed with his round.

“I bogeyed two of the par 5s — the second and 13th holes — by three-putting and I lost a ball on 14 because of a bad tee shot,” he said. “Bad shots can really cost you here (at Drumlins). But I did make four nice birdies.”

The birdies included a six-inch tap-in on the devilish, risk-reward par-4 11th hole, which played as the toughest hole of the day. Young opted to hit a driver on the hole — which travels steeply up a tree-lined hill — and after finding the fairway, he stiffed a sand wedge to a half foot.

McIntyre, a relative newcomer to the area’s senior district circuit, also found magic on that hole, which was one of four he birdied in a row to propel himself into a share of the lead.

“I really didn’t have great expectations coming into this event. I just wanted to go out and have fun,” said McIntyre, 58, who retired as the Jamesville-DeWitt school district’s business manager in 2009. “I saw this as an opportunity to play in a competitive situation.”

McIntyre got off to a shaky start with bogeys on the first two holes before rebounding with a birdie on the difficult fourth hole and four more on holes 9 through 12.

“He’s just been making everything,” exclaimed playing partner Stewart McGough after McIntyre slipped in a short downhill slider for birdie on the 12th hole.

McIntyre said he was surprised by his final score, explaining that as a 7-handicapper he normally shoots in the low 80s at Bellevue. Tuesday’s difference, he said, partly had to do with playing a shorter course.

“This course isn’t that long,” he said. “I don’t hit the ball that far, maybe 230 (yards), but here that leaves you with a reasonable iron in to the greens. At Bellevue, you still have another 200 yards left.”

During Wednesday’s final round at Highland Park, the main focus of the players’ attention will be on the Auburn course’s uber-undulating back-nine greens.

“Anything could happen tomorrow, especially on the back nine,” said defending champion Tripoli, whose round of 76 was sparked by hitting 15 greens in regulation and undone by an errant putter. “This is amateur golf. Four shots is nothing. It can disappear quickly.”

Post-Standard Senior Amateur
Following are scores from the first round of the 32nd Post-Standard Senior Amateur, played Tuesday at Drumlins East (par 71). The tournament will conclude Wednesday at Highland Park Golf Club (par 71) in Auburn.